BY LAASYA AKI
STAFF WRITER
People in general have mixed feelings about social media. Some only concentrate on the benefits of social media, viewing it as a way to connect with their friends. Others focus only on the cons, seeing it as a threat to our health and society. Either way, many people spend a lot of time on social media and come across tens and hundreds of posts each day. Using the powerful influence of social media, activists have reached a number of eyes that they wouldn’t have been able to reach before.
Why is social media different from any other news outlet?
Well, social media and news outlets differ in many ways, but the main area is the audience. Social media is mostly used by a younger audience: Generation Z and Millennials. Many of these news outlets rely on people going to their site to view their content. Social media is on almost every phone of Gen Z. Even if they don’t actively look to learn, they will come across it while scrolling through their social media. And this doesn’t just apply to Gen Z, though there is a majority here; it applies to anyone who has social media.
Why is it important that the younger population comes across these posts?
Gen Z is the most tolerant generation compared to previous generations. A larger percentage of these younger peoples are more likely to be tolerant of race, religion, and sexuality. A large percentage of Gen Z is seeing what is right and what is wrong. The younger generation is the future and can change it. This isn’t the case with previous generations. Gen Z is known to take action when needed.
After the tragic death of George Floyd, an innocent black man who was murdered at the hands of the police, many people on social media organized protests and reached the eye of those who they couldn’t have reached without social media. Those who couldn’t attend protests spread awareness to others. This also was the case with Breonna Taylor, Elijah Mcclain, and many more. But, with all of this good, comes the bad.
The dangers of misinformation.
With all this information spreading around, not all of it can be true. With the rise of activists comes misinformation and conspiracy theorists. One of these absurd theories is that George Flyod isn’t actually dead and that he faked it. This is not true, but on social media how does one know? We can try to fact check what we read and educate others. With all of this good also comes bad. The activism is growing louder, and they’ll have to listen to us soon.
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Sources
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/technology/george-floyd-misinformation-online.html